


Me After You

by shutuplizzie



Category: Produce 101 (TV), X1 (Korea Band)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Alternate Universe - College/University, Friendship, Insecure Cha Junho, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, lots of side ships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-03
Updated: 2019-08-03
Packaged: 2020-07-29 21:53:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20089354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shutuplizzie/pseuds/shutuplizzie
Summary: In a universe where every new mark on your soulmate’s skin was also visible on yours, Junho went through his teenage years covered in bruises that weren’t his.Or: 5 times Junho got closer to meeting his soulmate and one time he already did.





	Me After You

1.

Junho is 13 years old when something appears at his skin for the first time. He wouldn’t have noticed - he didn’t even knew when it first appeared, hidden by his long sleeves for most of the day. If it wasn’t for his mother, it would’ve taken him a few days, maybe a week.

As everyone else, he grew up listening to stories about soulmates, like his parents and a whole lot of other people. Before you turn into an adult, on a random day, any mark inflicted to your body will appear also on the one you call soulmate - and they will never stop. As teenagers, it’s mostly paint, which isn’t Junho’s case. That’s why he’s as shocked as his mother when she points out a huge bruise on his upper arm. Reassuring her that he wasn’t being bullied or getting into fights, he rushed to the bathroom so he could see it better.

It wasn’t the only bruise that he had. Taking off his clothes, he could see lots of them on his legs and on his feet. There were also a few bruises on his hips. Even though they didn’t hurt - soulmate marks could only be seen, not felt, by the other person - Junho still got worried. There was this person, who was supposed to be his everything, and they were getting their ass beaten. He eventually noticed that some of the bruises were fading, but some of them looked pretty recent, and he didn’t know if this was better or worse.

It was too much for one day. His mind was a complete mess and his heart was about to explode with feelings that he really wasn’t used to feel. He was happy to have a soulmate - there was a lot of stories, of people born without soulmates, and he never really gave much thought, but now that he knew he wasn’t one of those people, he felt relieved. It didn’t take much time for bitter and not so good thoughts to fill his mind: that one person was going to have him as a soulmate. What a pity. He was barely able to start thinking about the bruises again, how the person was hurt, and he couldn’t even reach them, to see if this person is ok. If they need help.

There  _ was  _ a way to reach them, and Junho went to his room and got a pen. Before he could ask something, anything (Are you ok? Who are you? My name is Junho, do you need any help?), insecure thoughts filled his mind. His soulmate was so different from him, that he already knew, and maybe it was enough. He couldn’t help even if he wanted to, and he was scared (incredibly so) to make things worse. Maybe his soulmate was going into a fight, and he could be a distraction. Or something the other person (people?) fighting them would make fun of, or anything bad actually happening because of him, really. Maybe his soulmate would find him boring and not answer him.

Junho decided that he was going to take a nap. He could handle this tomorrow.

...

He didn’t handle the soulmate subject when he woke up. Or the day after. Or on the next day, week, month. It got to a point that it would be only rude to ask this person something, because it would be too late. So Junho kept quiet. 

After that day, it all went back to normal. Mostly. Junho was still the quiet kid, with only one friend (Yunseong) who have other friends, so he’s alone a lot. He was still introverted and insecure, and he ended up isolating himself a little bit more because of the bruises. Yunseong and his friends knew that they weren’t his, per se, he wasn’t getting hurt, but after a small bruise appeared on his jawline once, people kind of thought he was trouble and he didn’t really have the energy to deny it.

He also didn’t want to be friends with idiots who thought he could fight anyone. Ever.

But he kept watching for his soulmate, through the years. The main concern were the injuries, but talking with his sister, together they got to a conclusion that his soulmate (probably) wasn’t a troublemaker. He didn’t have many marks on his face or upper body, so his sister believed that he was being trained in some kind of fight. After sharing the situation with Yunseong and his friends, one of them, Minhee, said that it was probably taekwondo, which was a better guess than Yunseong’s (“Maybe he’s being trained to be an assassin, have you ever thought of that?”).

Junho knew it wasn’t like that. Mostly because there weren’t only bad marks. This other person also drew a lot on their skin. Never words, but little, colorful drawings, usually when Junho (and this person, hopefully) was in class. Here and there there were also scratches, and he could only imagine how this person managed to be this active - his own skin always unblemished.

After the first week, he never thought of talking to the person (to the boy? He hoped it was a boy, at least), and they (he? Junho was going to call it a “he” from now on) never showed any kind of interest as well. Maybe he was too busy fighting. That became increasingly clear as the morning drawings stopped - Junho was in high school now -, but the bruises didn’t. His soulmate apparently didn’t get as hurt now as before, but it wasn’t really a relief because, in the end, they were still there.

Junho knew three things at that point. First, he believed that his soulmate had already graduated, for the lack of drawings on his arms. He also cared about this person, whoever he was, that was number two. Number three was an extension of number two: because he cared, he didn’t want to see them hurt anymore. He never liked to see the bruises, but only getting older that he started to wish for them to stop presenting. It wasn’t concerning his appearance - even though he was still very shy, lots of people (first his mom’s friends, then later girls, and a couple of boys) now tell him that he’s handsome, and sometimes he really believes it. So it wasn’t about vanity. He just want that person,  _ his person _ , to be alright.

So it felt kind of like a miracle when one day, he was looking at his body and noticed that new bruises didn’t show up that time, nor they did the next day, or the day after that. The old bruises were healing and there weren’t new ones coming up.

A week after that, the drawings came back. Junho never felt happier.

2.

Junho is now always covered in colors. It starts on his senior year in high school, and it doesn’t look like it’s stopping as he goes to college. All thanks to his soulmate, of course. He was used to black and purple, sometimes brownish, marks, but now there were pinks and purples and occasionally a thousand rainbows on his arms. There were drawings, but sometimes it was only bursts of color, drawn by felt pens or by paint, who would also splatter onto his legs and face. 

He went to Seoul to study acting. He was still shy, but he thought maybe he could do this. People told him a lot that he looked just like Kim Myungsoo, who was not only a member of a super popular kpop group, but a good actor as well, and that gave him a spurt of confidence, and for now that was enough. He also felt that he needed to start over, reinvent himself and, honestly, find other friends. He loves Yunseong with all his heart, he does, but Yunseong met his soulmate, Donghyun, which left Junho very confused because he thought Minhee was his soulmate, and Minhee also thought that he was Yunseong’s soulmate. Kind of a mess, a very stressful one, and he would be happy to watch it from very far away.

College was being kinder to him than middle or high school ever were, it seemed. He made friends easily: there was Eunsang, who was energetic and extroverted and wanted to be his friend right away, then Dongpyo, who was short and cute but determined, and Hyungjun, that was indescribable in the best ways possible. They were all super nice, and when he was having a bad day he wondered if he really deserved them, but he learned to ignore the evil thoughts most of the time.

He was almost an adult now, and he was proud. He was handsome, he could admit that to himself, and he also was a little bit more confident. That, unfortunately, doesn’t mean that he is ready to face his soulmate after all this time, and apparently that’s a big deal. He thought the whole soulmate discourse was huge in high school, but it was nothing compared to that. Some people even asked him about the colors on his arms (now usually not so covered) before they asked for his age, and they all seemed very shocked when he answers with the truth, that he doesn’t know his soulmate and never talked to him. He’s pretty sure now that’s a  he . He’s also starting to be sure that he should lie to these people, saying that he’s happily married or whatever.

And maybe by “these people” he should include his friends, because as he tells them they’re all baffled, to say the least. The last time Junho saw them that way was when the four of them found out the age of the kid genius that studies with them, Dohyun. And he knows they mean well, already trust them so much after only a couple of months, but when Dongpyo takes a sharpie pen from his case, Junho flinches so hard that they don’t even think about trying anything else. And he was scared it would be uncomfortable for his friends now, barely gets a inch of sleep that night, but it isn’t. Just like everyone else, it doesn’t seem like his friends will stop talking of soulmates, and he doesn’t want them to.

Junho likes to listen to their stories. Hyungjun had the easiest one: he met his soulmate in person on the first day of college, but he and his soulmate have been talking much before that. Minkyu was one year their senior, and they decided where to study together years before, writing in their own arms long before any of them had phones. Dongpyo also had a soulmate, but there was one thing Junho wasn’t expecting: there was also platonic soulmates, and that’s how his friend met Seungwoo, who treated and loved him like a son. Unlike the first two, Eunsang didn’t have a soulmate, and unlike himself, he apparently never will. He talked about how he never found any mark, nothing, and it was okay, it was fine, he was happy to be able to choose who he loves, and Junho never admired someone that much in his entire life.

He didn’t have a lot of classes yet, and most of the ones he had he didn't share with his new friends. As they were establishing their friendship in the first month, and actually hanging out on the second, third month came and also a proposal:

“Ok so,” Hyungjun started, with a huge smile, and that couldn’t be good, “Minkyu kind of does volunteer work in a children's house near campus, and they're kind of short on people and kind of needing help?”

The three others blinked. What?

Before he could say it outloud, though, Dongpyo smiled. “I think I know where it is! Seungwoo worked there for two years when he was in college, and yes, Eunsang, there were buildings and human children at the time, not only dinosaurs,” Junho snorted, but didn’t interrupt, “and not only he talks super fondly about his time there, but he also advised me to get extracurricular credits as soon as I can, so…”

“Yep!” Hyungjun looked pretty pleased, as if he expected to hear a solid no (or even a curse word? He just looked so satisfied). “It’s not hard work, and I think we all can do it. I look like a child, Dongpyo have the height of one, Eunsang thinks like one and Junho is a walking rainbow so we’ll fit right in!”

“That’s how you want to convince us?” Eunsang asks, and Hyungjun just blinks at him. Dongpyo sips on his unicorn frappuccino (™) and Junho asks how he befriended those people.

They all take the job.

…

It’s not easy, at the beginning, at least for Junho. His friends are great with children, and he’s really trying his best, but it’s not something he’s really used to.

But, at the same time, it’s not as bad as he thought it would be. Minkyu is grateful for their help, Seungwoo is excited for Dongpyo and the children look very happy, even with him. There are also adults and high school students who help, he finds out, but most of them can only visit once a week, and not for a very long time. He and his friends don’t stay very much, also, one or maybe two hours, three times a week, but as he knows the children better, it doesn’t really feels like a job. He usually read them stories - let the messy work for Eunsang or Dongpyo - and he finds out, pleased, that the older kids (the oldest was 8 years old) seem very captivated by his voice and his stories.

He knows that there are other college students that work before them, also a smaller group that work after, but he never met any of them. And he really wouldn’t so soon. It just happened that Dongpyo was sick and they needed another person. 

They got earlier, to see if any of the people who were already there would be able to stay with them for a couple more hours, and that’s how Junho met Hyungjun’s friend, Wonjin. Wonjin, even though he was almost their age, worked earlier because he got classes at odd hours, just like their seniors - whom he worked him. As he accepted and prepared to stay, he said his goodbyes to his companions, who appeared to be in a hurry to return to classes, as seniors usually are.

Wonjin was also tired at that point. Junho took pity of him, for the first time getting to interact with the smaller children. Apparently the main concern was not letting them eat glue or paint. He could do that. Hopefully.

At the end he was a complete mess, for what seemed the first time in his life. There wasn’t a single dot of color in his skin before, miraculously, but now he looked like he just got out of My Little Pony (tiny little Clara called him “Rainbow Dash”, and he hoped it was a good thing). He was laughing as he went to the bathroom with Eunsang, feeling unusually light and happy. Eunsang was quiet, eyeing him like he was close to exploding, and he got a little offended because he  _ laughed _ . Sometimes.

He stopped in the middle of remembering one conversation he had with one of the kids, though, because just now Eunsang almost screamed looking at him. Junho looked at him, confused and almost annoyed, when he realised that Eunsang wasn’t just looking at him - he was looking at his arm.

His arm and the big, bold, pink words that weren’t there a minute ago. They said:  **“HEY U THERE???????????????????????????”** and Junho couldn't understand how he was so stupid.

3.

Junho was not freaking out. He wasn’t.

Eunsang was looking at him like he was about to pass out though. And he really couldn’t say for how long they stayed that way. He was leaning against the sink, just staring at his arm. Eunsang at some point screamed for Hyungjun, and both of them just watched him, waiting for some kind of reaction. They wouldn’t get one, or so he thought, because minutes (hours? Days? Who knows at this point) later that person,  _ his  _ person, wrote something else.

**“Are you my soulmate?”**

Junho blinked. And blinked. Opened his mouth. Closed it. Moved his arm. Blinked again. He felt like he was floating. His chest felt tight and his legs felt a little off, so he leaned more against the sink. He couldn’t hear what his friends were saying, but they were talking to him. It was all suppressed by a voice in his mind, yelling  ** _soulmatesoulmatesoulmatesoulmatesoulmate_ ** . 

He felt dumb. Rationally, he knew that he wasn’t supposed to be anxious. That was his soulmate. But it was something that he feared for such a long time that he didn’t know how to react. He also felt a little silly, because he cared for them, watched out for him the best way he could, but he didn’t even think about the possibility of this person wanting to know him. How could they want to know him, if he stayed silent for so long? Was it fair? What the hell would he do?

Maybe he was a coward. Because his first instinct, just like years ago, was to ignore it. Maybe it was better this way? He already likes his person way too much, so of course they deserve better, they deserve to choose. And he wouldn’t choose him, he just knows it. And maybe his face isn’t as blank as he thought it would, maybe his friends know him way too much, because next thing he knows is that Hyungjun is apologizing - not sounding sorry at all - while Eunsang writes something small on his arm, right below his soulmate’s writing.

It was a little bit smudged already, but it could be understood very clearly.  **“YES!”**

Junho blinked slowly, once again.

“I hate you both so much,” he said, without any heat. He felt pretty close to crying.

“No you don’t,” Hyungjun answered him. He was smiling, a shy smile, while he helped Junho to finally stand on his both feet again. 

“He doesn’t but Dongpyo will,” Eunsang was still holding the red pen, and it looked like he was going to keep it as a souvenir. “We literally had the first contact without him, he’ll freak.”

…

“I can’t believe that you had the first contact without me,” Dongpyo said for the fourth time, actually sulking.

“I can’t believe that you’re all referring to it as “first contact”, my soulmate isn’t an alien,” Junho was now getting bitter. It’s been 3 hours since The Yes. And his person haven’t answered it yet.

“He could be,” Eunsang said, eating popcorn like he didn’t have any worries in the world. “Aliens are out there, you know. There’s a whole area for them in the US, people are actually planning to invade it.”

“Sometimes I think you’re an alien,” Hyungjun said to Eunsang, sounding amused. He was petting Dongpyo’s hair, but the smaller boy was still pouting. Eunsang started to rant about how he was handsome like Han Solo, then Dongpyo said something close to “oh, I’ve never watched Star Trek”, and that apparently offended Eunsang deeply. Junho was starting to finally get distracted - Han Solo was obviously from Lost in Space - when he irrationally felt a tingle on his left arm.

He wasn’t supposed to feel anything, maybe it was a sixth sense or something. Maybe Dongpyo’s place was just cold and he was shivering in short sleeves. But when he looked there only his (Eunsang’s)  _ ‘Yes!’ _ was still there from before. His soulmate had erased his first two sentences, and now was writing something else.

As his friends were now talking about the human centipede (he  really didn’t want to know), he watched as letters appeared on his forearm. In the end they said:  _ ‘Hi soulmate!!!! I’m so sorry it took so long to answer :( kind of got distracted in class, but now I’m home (⌒o⌒)’ _

It took him a couple of minutes to think of something cool to say. In the end, he gave up on being something he wasn’t (cool) and just wrote a ‘ _ that’s good _ ’ after cleaning the red Yes. His friends were still talking, flat earthers were now the subject, and he was pretty sure they were trying to give him a little bit of privacy. 

_ Your handwritting is different now ᇂ_ᇂ,  _ his person said, not even 2 minutes later. Junho read it with a small smile, and Dongpyo gasped.

“I thought you weren’t paying attention,” Junho said, still smiling, and Dongpyo answered with something that sounded very much like ‘bitch, please’.

_ It was my friend’s handwriting, now it’s mine _ , he finally answered and, oh god, this person would think he was a freak. Their first real interaction didn’t really involved him, but best friend instead. He was about to freak out for the second time that day, but his soulmate was (thankfully) faster than his anxiety.

‘ _ So, are you shy? (◕‿<)’ _

“Junho, why are you as red as Eunsang’s hair?” Hyungjun literally yelled, delighted. Dongpyo was giggling and Eunsang was looking at him with a satisfied expression.

“Shut up,” he said out loud, as he wrote a  _ ‘yes’ _ on his arm. Not even a minute later - Junho was truly impressed, his blush wasn’t even out of his face yet - more words appeared, and they said:  _ ‘Do you want me to stop?’ _

He didn't even hesitated - maybe for the first time in his life - quickly scribbling a  _ ‘no’  _ and smiling a little more openly as he got a response that only said _ ‘ok then!!! ♥‿♥’ _

4.

From that point, they start to talk a lot.

Well, kind of. His person talks a lot. He rambles and chatters about the most mundane things that happens to him, and it looks like he doesn’t really need an answer sometimes. There are days when he asks Junho questions, the most vague ones, his favorite food, which country he wants to visit someday, if he likes figure skating. He doesn’t ask anything personal, not even his name, and Junho doesn’t ask for his either. It’s comfortable.

In the beginning they actually only communicate through their skin, but after one day when Junho’s professor thinks he’s cheating on an exam, they exchange numbers. That doesn’t make his soulmate stop to write on his arm that he saw a very colorful bird or that said bird pooped on his friend’s hair. His professor now knows that it’s all his soulmate’s fault, but he still thinks Junho is weird as he giggles once or twice in his class, looking at his own arm.

When he (Junho as a matter of fact now knows that it’s a  **he** , and he can finally breathe a little bit better) isn’t talking about himself, he talks about his friends. Or, how he likes to call them, his “bros”. There is this one time that Dongpyo is reading one of their conversations and sees this - he immediately asks Junho if his soulmate is straight, which leads Eunsang to say that there are not straight people because “it’s 2019”. Junho doesn’t even ask. 

He still hangs out with his friends everyday, he still goes to the children’s house three times a week (sometimes more, he’s really getting attached), but something is different. It’s the little things that make everything so unique. He starts his day to a different emoji everyday, something that usually looks like a ‘ _ ★~(◡‿◕✿) _ ’ on his phone, or sometimes on his skin, as he did in the beginning. He starts to talk more about himself to other people, occasionally even things that he didn’t share with the little devils he likes to call friends. Small things, like pieces of his childhood or stories that involve his family. He doesn’t remember his soulmate ever talking of the past, only his present and future (do you think we’ll have flying cars in 20 years? Or maybe live in the moon in 50?), but it’s light and easy and Junho is happy.

They barely stop talking as the semester is ending and both of them are busy with their tests. Apparently his person is one year his senior, also in college and, fortunately, also was studying in Korea. One time, he was feeling bold and asked him what was his major, and not only he was pleased to know that it was pedagogy, but it also explained a lot about the constant ink that covered their bodies. When he said he was studying to be an actor, the man replied that he  _ ‘must be very handsome then (✿ ♥‿♥)’ _ and that was the story of how Junho wouldn’t stop blushing for the rest of the day.

After his tests, it was finally time for a well deserved Christmas break. He considered the idea of going back home, but his parents decided it was time to travel (without their own child!), so it wasn’t much of a choice to stay back on campus. Fortunately, he had the best friends in the world - he just wouldn’t say that to them or they would make his life miserable -, so they all stayed together. Dongpyo’s dorm was actually the biggest (no one really complained about it though because people were pretty sure it was haunted), also his roommate, Tony, went home for the holidays, so the four of them stayed there together most of those days. 

They exchanged gifts, through a surprisingly organized secret santa so everyone would actually get a chance to win a good gift (Hyungjun tried, okay) and it was very peaceful, for the most part. It only got a little chaotic when they watched horror movies, Dongpyo screaming so much that two other boys who didn’t went home in their floor went to see if someone was dying. Also Junho almost got the kitchen on fire at some point, but all went well in the end.

He kept talking with his soulmate during the break. Junho thought of asking if he went home, but the older boy never mentioned his family (or home at all), so he decided not to. He would later find out that he was still on campus, just like himself, hanging out with his  _ bros _ . He talked about his bros a lot, in such a way that he was 70% sure that they at least kissed each other - maybe that was supposed to leave him jealous, but it only makes him wonder if he should be kissing his own friends.

Apparently he wasn’t the only one thinking about kissing people, because two days before the new years, Hyungjun (who else) was talking of this party that was going to happen just outside campus. Junho was actually the only one in their group to never have gone to a college party, the other three of them actually meeting and befriending each other in the first they went. Junho was just lucky he met them later. It didn’t took to long for them to convince him, because he really wanted to know how it was to get drunk. And it was time to find out.

…

The thing that people usually told him is that drinking and getting drunk was pretty fun, something very advertised by movies and all that. The thing no one bothered to tell Junho, however, is how alcoholic drinks are actually terrible.

The party was apparently a big deal. When they got there, he could swear there were already more than a hundred people - luckily there was a big yard and people were too crazy with buzz to be as cold as they normally would. Hyungjun was introducing him to pretty much half the party, until he found the adults that he really wanted to locate. Dongpyo was bolting to hug Seungwoo, while Hyungjun was having his cheeks pinched by a tall boy in leather pants and, last but definitely not least, Eunsang was hiding behind him as a very pretty looking man was staring at them both.

“Junho, hey, come here, cherry boy can fight his own battles!!!”, Hyungjun was bouncing, smile shining so bright and they barely drank one full cup of anything. Junho wasn’t really planning on drinking more, but he couldn’t say the same about his friends. “You already know Seungwoo, but the one who looks like he wants to choke Eunsang,” Dongpyo laughed and the man, clearly already buzzed, didn’t deny it, “is Wooseok. He’s pretty chill, usually, he is just bitter!”

“It’s not my fault that every single game we play you put me with the absolute worst pair possible,” Wooseok was still staring at Eunsang, and Junho would be worried if the situation wasn’t so funny.

“It’s not  _ our  _ fault that you’re not only betting money on stupid games, but are a complete sore loser when someone is better than you at them,” leather pants boy singsongs, Wooseok finally letting his friend breathe to look at him with a stare that could kill any regular man.

Hyungjun continued like he didn’t have any kind of fear for his life: “And this, the man, the legend,” Dongpyo, the lightweight in their group, was already howling with laughter, and Seungwoo was probably not sober as well or he would be worried, “is Seungyoun, our host tonight.” 

Seungyoun was apparently not only a talker, but an incredible host, who actually got them more drinks (they weren’t that bad this time, also) and introduced him to the very few people Hyungjun didn’t know. Junho didn’t feel drunk - he was definitely better than all his friends, but he knew he wasn’t sober either because he was actually talking to people. He barely looked at his phone or his arms, always expecting to hear something from his soulmate but not actually bothered by the fact that there wasn’t any new messages. 

He was talking to this very funny guy, Yuvin, who was ranking the butts of the people at the party. He was saying that his ass was obviously the best one in South Korea, but Junho’s was in the top 3, so he really shouldn’t complain. He was about to ask who was the third person in this top 3, but someone came running almost into them, and he would’ve thought that this man was drunk, but he only seemed very alarmed.

“Yuvin, do you know where Seungwoo is? Or any other responsible adult?” he was starting to gain attention from people around them, breathing heavily. Yuvin apparently didn’t, but Junho had an idea. As he told this person this, he was asked to bring any of them there, and Junho went as fast as he could, only colliding with three people, so he considered a win.

When he finally found Seungwoo, Seungyoun was with him, so he brought them to the place he was before. Yuvin was still there, now snickering at his two new companions. The older boy who asked for their help was talking to them with a serious voice, but when Junho arrived with the other grownups, he seemed to relax a little bit. “Did something happened?” Seungyeon was asking, more sober than he was three minutes ago.

“The children were fighting a boy in your backyard,” the man said, as the taller of the two new boys actually said at the same time: “Jinhyuk, you have to believe that it wasn’t our fault!” Seungyoun was looking up and Junho really couldn't tell if he was asking advice to God or just wanting to go back upstairs to drink a whole bottle of vodka alone. He was also now very distracted by the boy, in a very drunk way, of course. As the man, Jinhyuk, looked like he would give him the word, the boy, who was as cute as he was nervous, started to talk:

“Ok, you don’t have to believe anything, but it’s the truth, so you really should,” at this the shorter boy (also very hot, everyone was incredibly hot, maybe he was dead) elbowed him on his side, “ouch, Hangyul, shit, stop, okay. The thing is, there was this girl and she was becoming our friend, because she was pretty nice and we were talking and then this boy started to hit on her and she said she wasn’t interested, I swear, she said every single word out loud, twice, but the boy didn’t get it and he kind of tried kiss her without her consent and…” he paused for breath, finally.

“And?” Junho asked, because no one did. The taller boy looked at him, first noticing him there, and after staring at him for half a minute, he apparently doesn’t know what he was talking about anymore. Maybe the boy was too drunk.

As he observed that his friend wasn’t going to be of any help, Hangyul answered for him: “Yeah, so, this guy tried to assault the girl in front of us, so Yohan started to kick him. Hard. I tried to help, but he apparently could handle it very well alone.”

Seungwoo sounded relieved to know that one of his many, many children wasn’t a delinquent. Seungyeon actually high-fived the boy, Yohan, who only now got out of his stupor. Yuvin, who was giggling while listening to the story, stopped to ask if the girl was alright. As Hangyul answered that the girl was now punching the guy herself, it looked like he was close to pass out from laughing too hard.

After this, Jinhyuk introduced himself to him - he recognized the name, Minkyu talked about him a lot -, and he seemed very nice, much less chaotic than the dudebro duo who were now trying to calm Yuvin. As the grandpas left, Yohan was looking at him again, shy smile on his face, and Junho was grateful he was tipsy.

“You have such a pretty smile,” Junho said to him as a hello, and now he was sure that he was drunker than he thought. He was starting to wish to disappear, but Yohan blushed a pretty pink, so Junho was probably doing something right. As people were starting to scream, so near midnight, Junho smiled the easiest smile he could remember smiling, looking into Yohan’s eyes. “Hi, I’m Cha Junho.”

Yohan was going to answer, but before the words left his mouth the clock struck midnight. Junho was still smiling when Yuvin took Yohan’s arm and kissed him, laughing through the kiss while Yohan looked lost even as he was kissing back. Hangyul gave Junho a smile, and it looked like he would kiss his cheek so he wouldn’t be left staring, but before he could come closer, Eunsang was screaming something along the lines of ‘no, you’re not getting this kiss, I made a pact with him, go kiss a girl or whatever’ as he kissed Junho instead, on the corner of his mouth.

Junho was laughing now, a full body laugh, as he kissed his best friend’s cheeks. As he looked above Eunsang’s shoulders, he could see Yohan, still pressed against Yuvin, but looking directly at him, eyes soft.

“I’m Yohan,” he didn’t say it very loud, but Junho was close enough to hear it. “Happy new year, Cha Junho.”

5.

Junho woke up with a killer headache the next morning. Dongpyo was also sleeping on top of him - later he would find out that he actually pulled the younger boy as a blanket. Apparently they all slept together on the carpet because they were all too lazy to prepare something better, and that’s why Junho’s back was hurting like a bitch.

That all shouldn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. Even though they woke up near 3 on the afternoon, it was a brand new year, and they could be whatever they wanted. Except Junho, obviously. He had amazing friends, all of them bursting with talent and potential and they always deserved better. Junho’s destiny was to die alone because the only time he manages to get a boy’s attention they’re both drunk. As Dongpyo cuddles the death out of him, snoring softly, he keeps replaying the night on his own head and he kind of hates himself a little bit. The worst part is that there isn’t a rational reason for him to feel this way, he had fun and his friends sounded pretty excited about him as they left the party (earlier than expected because apparently someone named Sejin did something big enough for cops to show up), but that can’t be real. Things like that doesn’t simply happen to Junho, so of course something wasn’t right and he just had to find out what.

While he’s wallowing in ugly thoughts, the others start to wake up, lazily. They would’ve stayed like that for at least 3 days, if it wasn’t for food. Junho was the only one eager to get away and be lonely for a few moments, but how he wasn’t allowed to be in the kitchen unsupervised ever again, Hyungjun went to make something for them, being the only one of them who wasn’t having a hangover. Eunsang and Dongpyo, who was still on top of him, were talking quietly about the party while Junho wasn’t even pretending to pay attention until a familiar name was mentioned.

As Dongpyo says Yohan’s name, Junho looks up to him expecting to see a smirk or even some kind at joke directed to him, but his friend just looks worried. “Are you okay down there?” he asks innocently and Eunsang snorts. Junho doesn’t think he looks sad - because he isn’t, not really - so he doesn’t get the concern. He decides to nod his head to say he is alright, which is neither true or false (he isn’t feeling much, to be honest), but no one in that room was buying it. “Do you want to talk about it?” Which leads him to shake his head, now truly meaning it.

“Do you want to watch 10 Things I Hate About You then?” Hyungjun asks, finally coming with food, which consisted of enough popcorn to fill a whole movie theater. Junho finally gives his first sober smile of the year and they spend the rest of the day watching romantic comedies. It’s in the middle of the first movie (of many) that he realize that it’s the first time he’s projecting into a romantic couple imagining someone else who isn’t his soulmate. 

He doesn’t know how to feel about that, so he just shoves his mouth with so much popcorn that he almost chokes.

…

As Christmas break finally end, Junho sees himself with two things plaguering his mind - that being two things too many. First one was Yohan, which was absolutely ridiculous because they actually talked for two hours. And that was it. It was mostly blushes and a few jokes and talking of people who were at the party, but it ended just as quickly as it began. So he wasn’t supposed to be  _ this  _ invested, especially when he decided he wasn’t going to do anything.

He eventually talked with his friends about Yohan. They tried to be serious, and in the first day they truly were, but it didn’t took long for the ‘Yohan has a crush’ jokes to come in and never stop. The worst part is that he couldn’t even be mad about that, because they tried to help, not only comforting him the best way they could with his insecurities, but actively supporting a relationship (or the possibility of one) between those two. Hyungjun actually had his number, because they were on a groupchat together, but Junho refused. They joked for the first few days that it didn’t matter if he wanted the number, because eventually Yohan would text him first.

Except he didn’t.

Being the only negative person in his group of friends, he wasn’t really expecting any kind of contact, but he was apparently the only one who didn’t. They got so disappointed that Hyungjun actually asked him - as he cried, of course - if he wanted revenge on Yohan because ‘he knows a guy’. And he obviously didn’t, because Junho was rational enough to be cool with the fact that something important to him wouldn’t necessarily be to others. It was more scary than everything to admit to himself that it was important. The memory was heavy in his mind and in his chest, and maybe it was because they watched a ton of romantic movies, but it felt a lot like love at first sight.

Which led to the second problem: his  _ actual  _ soulmate, who wasn’t talking to him. Ever since the party. His soulmate was always the first person to talk to him, Junho was rarely the one who started a conversation. He was active enough to (hopefully) assure his person that he was interested in talking, but starting any kind of talk meant that he would be the one to choose the subject, and he was too boring for that. For two weeks he wondered what was happening, and he got to 3 possibilities: first, and the one who plagued his mind the most in the first week: maybe his soulmate knows what happened to him at the party. Which was absolutely ridiculous for a lot of reasons. He couldn’t possibly know this because he wasn’t at the party, and even if he was, he didn’t know Junho. Even if he did know, for a miracle, who Junho was, that meant nothing - as Eunsang usually said, it wasn’t the 19th century anymore, people could have a relationship to people who weren’t their soulmates. 

One week later, as he finally accepted that possibility number one was stupid, possibility number two became valid: maybe he just got tired of him. Tired of feeling like he was the only one trying, or maybe tired of him. That possibility was more likely and, at the same time, was his biggest fear becoming real. It also made him think how much he would miss his soulmate if he never talked to him ever again - he didn’t even got covered in ink, not once, it was very weird. Junho could ask him, could pretend the silence wasn’t there and ask something random, but he felt like the other person wasn’t answering for a reason, and it was probably valid. So he would give him space.

The plan of giving his soulmate space was actually working, until possibility number three came into his mind as, on the last day of winter break. They were watching their last movie, which was more of a drama than an actual romance, and that was pretty clear when the girl’s soulmate died. Junho stared at the TV even after the movie ended, and when Hyungjun poked him, he couldn’t pretend it wasn’t on his mind. So he asked, voice thin:

“Do you think my soulmate is dead?” maybe loud enough so only Hyungjun could hear him. And he was glad, because he knew Dongpyo and Eunsang would deny it right away, but Hyungjun stared at him and gave it a thought. After a few moments, he took a bright pink highlighter that was on the table next to them and gave it to Junho, so he knew what he was supposed to do.

Forcing his hand not to tremble (much), he wrote a  _ ‘hey are you alive?’ _ on his right arm. He stared at it for solid five minutes, and was about to add something else (i miss you, maybe?) when black ink suddenly started to appear at his arm, above his questions, so many words that it actually looked like Junho had his forearm covered in a sleeve tattoo:

_ ‘Oh my God, I’m sorry, there isn’t a way to explain why I vanished this year so I won’t even try it!!!!!! I’m so sorry, I’m just a dumbass and I can’t deal with things and I’m also a dumbass and I didn’t want to involve you so I kind of died but I’m not dead I swear this is actually me writing!!!! Please forgive your thoughtless soulmate o(╥﹏╥)o’ _

He didn’t have to look up to see that his friends were now reading his arm, that becoming clear enough when Dongpyo  _ uwued _ . Outloud. As he realized there wasn’t enough space, he drew a pointer and started to write in his other arm, as best as it could with his non dominant hand:  _ ‘It’s fine, I’m glad’ _ .

He started to write again, filling Junho’s other arm, saying that _ no, it wasn’t fine _ and stuff like that. Junho, who would usually wait for the person to finish, for the first time interrupted him, saying:  _ ‘It’s not fine, but I forgive you anyway.’ _

After that, he received at least a hundred happy emoji faces on his phone. And when his soulmate wished him a happy new year, he felt his heart skip a beat.

…

After that it all went back to normal. Junho was painfully aware that his soulmate didn’t actually told him the reason he went missing for those two weeks, but he just hoped that he was fine now. As the new semester began, so did the colors on his arm, and he was glad. It wasn’t an everyday thing anymore, the other boy telling him that not only he should look more like an adult now, but he thought that Junho was uncomfortable with it. Feeling bold Junho answered that he actually liked it a lot. Junho’s answer was via text, and it was something that could only be accomplished by someone smashing the keyboard with their head.

One of his two problems was solved. The other presented himself in person to him the next day, at the children’s house. He should’ve realized sooner that Yohan worked there, Hangyul as well. Yuvin didn’t and Junho guessed that he wasn’t allowed near kids, and that was a good call. They worked different hours and days and that was why he didn’t remember him - it was a very memorable face, he would have -, but now it was a different semester and it seemed like Yohan had lots of free time on his hands.

Because it was completely normal to have more people, or people adjusting to their new schedules. They had two more people with them: Dohyun, who was persuaded by Hyungjun to join, and also Jungmo, who already worked there, usually playing children’s songs with his guitar. If Yohan was willing to help, there was nothing Junho could do about that, and he wouldn’t be the one to complain.

But no. Yohan was there to sit with the children to listen Junho read to them. 

The first time it happened was actually the first day Junho was back. The kids were all very excited for him to start reading Harry Potter to them, and apparently they were not alone. As he saw a grown adult sitting with the 6 and 7 years old, chatting with them like they were close friends, Junho asked - noticing it was their first interaction since the party - what he was doing there. And his cheeks were blushing, but he was shameless enough to answer: “Well, I’m a Harry Potter fan.” 

And that was the story of how Junho would spend at least 6 hours a week reading a children’s book for children and also Kim Yohan. He didn’t know what to expect, but it was fun. Junho’s voice was soft, but the children were so enchanted that he didn’t have to raise his voice a lot. And Yohan was apparently a big fan, because at least one time per chapter he would stop Junho to tell the kids something about what was going on, maybe explaining something or even making jokes and voices for the characters. It was very clear since the start that children adored him, and Junho would tell himself every single time that the feeling tingling in his chest wasn’t fondness (except it was, along with something else). Even Dongpyo would sometimes neglect his children - saying that Dohyun could take care of them, but both of them knew better - to sit and watch, sometimes laughing with the kids but most of the time just  _ looking  _ at Junho like he was an idiot.

Junho was pretty sure he was the most idiotic person who ever stepped on planet Earth, but he only got to that conclusion 3 months later. Everything in his life was going smoothly: he had friends whom he loved more than anything, good grades, his parents were happy because he was getting better with people (and life), he talked with his soulmate everyday and the cutest boy in the world stared at him like he was something good. Except for the way that their friend apparently knew something he didn’t, he still didn’t know anything personal about his soulmate and Yohan wouldn’t talk to him outside of those little moments with the kids.

He was pretty good with not handling emotions, putting them on a small box in a side of his brain until it disappeared or until it was absolutely necessary to understand what he was feeling. It didn’t seemed like his feelings would just vanish, but for the first time it was alright - the only thing he had to do was to figure out how those feelings applied to the two boys in his life. He had tried to talk with his friends, because maybe saying things out loud would help him to understand what he was feeling about his soulmate and what he was feeling about Yohan, because he knew it was different things. He gave up on that idea after Eunsang literally screamed, like he was in pain. 

After months, he could say that he liked his soulmate not only because he should, but because he was funny, caring in his own way, and genuinely a person that Junho was glad to have in his life. It was a very scary thing to feel, but he felt like he was dealing with it fine, after Dohyun told him that Seungyoun and Wooseok, that he met at the party, weren’t only soulmates, but also hated each other. And it was so good to know that doesn’t matter the way he was dealing with things, it could be worse. Which led him to Yohan. He was doing his absolute best, flirting the best way he could when there were children around. He just wasn't confident enough to openly ask him on a date (because yes, he wanted that, also cuddles) and Yohan  _ knew  _ that, but still didn't do anything. And it was infuriating.

It was kind of a miracle when the answered came to him on a very colorful spiral notebook - which, in retrospect, seemed fitting. Minkyu pulled him aside before he could get Harry Potter 3 from his bag and gave him a pen. He was about to literally freak out, Minkyu was the calmest person that he knew, if even him had given up on him and was asking for him to deal with his soulmate, he was screwed, but then he saw the notebook in his other hand. He was told that it was kind of a journal, meant for people who worked there to share their stories. Junho took it, sat on the ground and decided he would he write about the day that he and Yohan ‘dueled’ to reenact Harry and Malfoy’s fight in Chamber of Secrets. That didn’t took very much of his time, so he decided read some of other stories, as children were just peacefully talking near him.

He already knew the stories his friends told, then Minkyu’s, Jungmo’s and Hangyul’s. When he finally found Yohan’s pages, he couldn’t help but laugh that the boy took literal pages to say something that could easily fit in maybe half of one. He felt something incredibly familiar as he was reading, and he started to ask himself if Yohan or even Hangyul have told him that story, but it still felt like he was missing something.

Until one of the kids who was sitting near him on the ground started to talk about his favorite adult, Kim Yohan. And how he was the most amazing adult ever, because he was tall and funny and could  **fight** . Taekwondo. Something in his mind immediately clicked as he put the dots together. The similar personalities, the way his soulmate didn’t talk to him as he was reading to children, the hesitation. There was also the factor that their handwriting was the same and, when Yohan signed his name at the end, it was alongside a very well constructed kawaii emoji face.

Yohan was his soulmate.

What.

+1.

It wasn’t a regular day. Instead of watching Junho read for the kids, he was helping them take the test to find out which were their Hogwarts houses. Hangyul was rambling next to him that ‘it wasn't fair because they only should be allowed to do it as they complete 11 years’, and he kind of agreed, but he was bored. Also he was intrigued for a couple of reasons, and thought he should just focus on something else so he wouldn’t go mad. Hangyul  never stayed there with him after hours, actually made fun of him for it. The room was also more packed with people their age and even people who were from a different century (Seungwoo was there). When Seungyoun and Wooseok arrived, he thought that maybe it was someone’s birthday, but it became painfully obvious that that wasn’t it when Dohyun appeared out of nowhere with a video camera. Pointing to him.

And it wasn’t even his birthday.

Hangyul was smiling, as if he was having the time of his life, and Hyungjun was now next to them, similar expression on his face. Since when they were friends? Why was his life like this?

He was asking himself where was Junho, also, he kind of missed him and that was probably a little bit unhealthy, but he couldn’t really care. He was a simple guy with simple needs. When he was about to ask Hyungjun, though, someone screamed so hard from the other room that everyone stopped. Dohyun was now cackling behind the camera, and Yohan thought that he couldn’t possibly shake more, but he was wrong to assume that. The scream was followed by Junho’s voice, as clear and loud as day, yelling:

**“KIM YOHAN IS MY SOULMATE???????????????????????????**

Children now forgotten, he was staring at the open door. He smiled, before he could even understand what was happening, while Hangyul was dancing with kids half his size in sheer happiness and Hyungjun was about to cry, but also smiling. A voice that was similar to Eunsang’s screamed back, and Yohan was pretty sure it was  _ ‘Oh dear Lord, fucking finally.’ _

He was still smiling and still sitting on the ground when two of his older kids (Jinyoung and Hoseok, age 8) took his hands and started to drag him in the direction of the scream. Yohan suddenly regretted teaching them the whole ‘I solemnly swear that I am up to no good’ thing. Dohyun was still filming, Hangyul was still laughing and Hyungjun was still emotional as they went to the other room (the children would live, probably, it was all good). The room was packed and Yohan wasn’t really surprised to see Dongpyo holding a camera, just like Dohyun’s, but pointing at Junho. Junho looked shocked, but not unhappy (that was good) and everyone mostly looked overjoyed. Wooseok was the only one who wasn’t smiling - he was now talking to Junho regarding ‘why couldn’t you just wait a few more weeks, I lost so much money, I hate my soulmate’ but that was to be expected. Yohan wasn’t even shocked about the bet that was going on - everyone was involved and, after looking for a second at their friends' faces, he could tell that Seungyoun and Hangyul had undoubtedly won quite a lot of money.

Yohan was trying not to look directly at his soulmate, kind of failing at it as well. He didn’t consider himself to be a shy person, but it was so overwhelming, all these things that that boy was doing to him. And that became painfully clear as he said, still on the ground: “Yohan, you are my soulmate.” No question. He finally looked at him, only at him, close to say yes. And just like the first time he saw him, his mind went blank and he didn’t think he would be able to talk - which was a rare thing, only happening when Cha Junho was involved. He decided just to nod his head - Eunsang looked like he was about to slap one of them - and Junho finally smiled. It was the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen - and it was his soulmate. He wondered if he was the luckiest person in the world, especially after Junho said, still smiling:

“Good, I wouldn’t want another one.”

…

They left the children’s house together that day. It took a while for their friends to stop screaming and a little bit more for Wooseok to say that he was happy for them (“but if you say that to anyone I’ll end you both”), but as everyone went home, they went to a coffee shop near Junho’s house. He wanted to hold the younger boy’s hand really badly, but he knew that they needed to talk about a few things first. Needed to know if Junho actually wanted something romantic or even if he wanted anything to do with him at all.

As they got their orders and finally found a cozy place to seat, the total euphoria that Yohan was feeling half an hour ago wasn’t there anymore. Instead, he felt strangely calm, because he was  _ meant to be _ with the person in front of him - and even if he wasn’t, he felt he would fight for it anyway. Tried to, even (he got Junho’s number with Hyungjun, only to find out that he already had it - that’s how people eventually figured him out), but he believed that the universe was wise and kind, and that was only proof. Yohan took a deep breath, preparing himself to say something (he couldn’t tell what exactly because his mouth was faster than his brain most of the time), but Junho spoke first.

“A part of me was expecting not having the chance of meeting you, because there were so many bruises, everywhere,” he started. Yohan stared at him, first distracted with his voice - it was literally the voice of an angel, there wasn’t any other explanation - but then. Yeah, right, his bruises, taekwondo. “It took me a long time to figure it out you were okay.”

He was going to apologize, but he knew Junho enough at that point to know that he wouldn’t accept it, not when Yohan wasn’t actually at fault. So he nodded and asked what he wanted to know ever since he was a teenager, so many years ago:

“Why haven’t you tried to talk to me?” and his voice wasn’t trembling. Maybe just a little. “Knowing you now I think I can tell why you haven’t started a conversation, and that is super valid, even though I wouldn’t have minded because you’re pretty cool, but it didn’t have to be words. Colors would’ve been enough.”

Junho looked so guilty, and he felt bad for him. He never got mad at the younger boy, not even when he thought he didn’t have a soulmate - only to find out, last year, that he did -, so he was about to tell him that he didn’t have to answer that, not yet, but Junho raised his hand, eyebrows furrowed as he probably was trying to organize his thoughts.

“I was scared,” he started, “scared of my intervention ending up being a reason for you to get hurt more, but also scared of you not liking me. It was my biggest fear, for a very long time.” Junho kept talking, about his insecurities, about the way he was careful with his skin, afraid to be acknowledged (that explained why Yohan couldn’t remember a single mark on his skin) and so much more. His voice was shaky in the beginning, but as he went on, it became more serene. His tone was low and soft in the end, and Yohan knew that it wasn't everything, but that was fine, because they could talk tomorrow or the day after.

Yohan also shared a few things. About taekwondo and his relationship with his dad. How it wasn’t the best now, but it was getting better. Junho knew that his soulmate was one year his senior in college, but Yohan was three years older, and as he explained that he kept fighting for two years after high school, until he couldn’t take it anymore and moved away from home to start anew. There was a point that he stuttered, when he mentioned his little sister, and Junho held his hand above the table. And it felt good. It was the first time he talked about it without crying (small mercies), but not only that, for the first time Yohan felt better after opening up.

He was getting soft. If Hangyul asked, he would say that they were making out.

They kept talking for hours, after that, about lighter subjects, just like they did at the party and just like they did writing or texting. But now both of them were sober and looking at each other eyes. He thought he saw affection on Junho’s gaze, in one particular moment, but maybe it was a trick of light. Sure.

They only left the coffee shop when it was closing, and it was already evening. Since it was close to Junho’s building, Yohan took him there. They kept talking even as they were walking, Yohan trying to make him laugh (when he did, it was such a pure sound that Yohan tripped, which made Junho laugh harder). As they finally got there, Yohan took the stairs with him and, as they were in front of Junho’s door, Yohan didn’t really know what to do. He was about to say goodbye and run for his life when Junho got close, too close, and dropped a kiss on his cheek.

He was smiling at him, blushing a pretty pink, unlike Yohan who was probably as red as a firetruck. Junho took his keys and opened the door, wishing him good night. Yohan kept blinking, dumbfounded, even as three very impatient people grabbed Junho’s arm and dragged him inside - not even closing the door completely before starting to scream. Yohan stood there for at least 10 more minutes, trying to calm his racing heart, but gave up after realizing that it was impossible.

When he got home he was smiling so hard that it was almost starting to hurt, but as Hangyul hugged him, he realized that he haven’t felt that sort of pure happiness in a very long time.

…

“Hey, remember when Junho didn’t know that Yohan and his soulmate were actually the same person, so he started to ask us about polyamorous relationships?” Eunsang asked, movie in front of them completely forgotten.

“That was not even a month ago,” Dongpyo retorted, but he was also laughing.

Junho was now hiding his face, undoubtedly pink, in Yohan’s back as the others laughed. It was saturday night and they were all on Seungwoo's apartment, talking about everything and nothing at all. Some of them were drinking, but Yohan decided that he was already being cheesy enough sober. Junho was now explaining where he get that idea from, updating them on his childhood friend’s life - the boy was apparently dating two people, and it seemed too complicated to Yohan, but Junho was saying that it was all going well. It apparently wasn’t that complicated to Seungyeon either, who gave a smile to Wooseok who could only be described as devilish (he only got a sharp no as an answer from Wooseok, but Jinhyuk, the actual boyfriend, seemed to give it a thought).

He was sitting on Junho’s lap, having the best time in the world, when the younger boy suddenly touched his jaw. As he turned his head to look at him, his soulmate's eyes were shining as he leaned to kiss him. Yohan closed his eyes and lost himself in it - he felt like he was floating so he hold onto Junho’s shoulders, and it took a while to Junho to break the kiss. They were still close, so close, and Junho gave him one small peck before moving away. Yohan was about to kiss him again, ignoring everyone around him once more, but Junho put a finger in front of his mouth before he could. “Wait, get up, I need to pee.”

“You always pee so much when you drink, it’s unbelievable,” he said as he got up. Junho just blinked at him and went to the bathroom. He sat there again, smiling like he was the happiest man in the world (he was), even as their friends laughed. They started to laugh a little bit harder, suddenly, and it took Yohan a minute to see that there were words in his arm.

He wondered if someone could die of smiling too much. “Yes, Junho,” he said loudly, “I’ll be your boyfriend, just come here before your friends get a camera again.”

They didn’t bother with the camera this time. But they  _ did  _ open a bottle of champagne. Yohan was finally drinking, Junho now cuddling to him, and they laughed as quietly as they could of Wooseok losing more money (now for Dohyun as well). He kept watching his friends - their friends - interacting, and when Junho kissed his temple, it felt like even the most ambitious dream wouldn’t be able to come close to this moment.

He closed his eyes, let his boyfriend hug him as he sank on the couch. They were connected by colors, before anything else, but Yohan was only starting to understand why there weren’t enough colors or words that could describe the beauty of a sunset - you have to witness, see with your own eyes, to know the value - and know that you never want to lose it.

Junho held him tighter.

**Author's Note:**

> That was it folks!
> 
> I'm not really a fic writer, I was just so desperate to read anything Junho x Yohan, then I was sharing ideas with my friend (thank you, Kawan, for everything) and that was how this was created. English is also not my first language, so don't hesitate to tell me if I got anything wrong.  
It was supposed to be a lot smaller, but I got (clearly) involved with Junho's friends, outside of the romance, and here we are. There were also a lot of smaller subplots, and if you want to know more about them, you can always find me as /shutuplizzie on curiouscat :)


End file.
